# Artur Grigorian

Artur Razmikovich Grigorian (Armenian: Արթուր Գրիգորյան; born 20 October 1967) is a retired Armenian-Uzbek professional boxer.
Grigorian is a former WBO lightweight champion. He defended his title against record-breaking 17 boxers, and held it for seven years, six months and twenty days; nearly as long as record holder Benny Leonard held his lightweight title (7 years, 8 months).

## Biography

Grigorian was born on 20 October 1967 in Soviet Tashkent, Uzbek SSR to an Armenian family from Nagorno-Karabakh. He has a brother and sister.

## Amateur career

Grigorian began boxing at the age of 11. He defeated Shane Mosley and won a gold medal at the 1990 Goodwill Games in Seattle City. Grigorian won a silver medal at the 1991 World Amateur Boxing Championships and competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.
* 1991 2nd place as a lightweight at the World Championships in Sydney, Australia. His results were:
** Defeated Juan Carlos Saiz (Spain) PTS (26–18)
** Defeated Julio Gonzalez (Cuba) PTS (15–12)
** Defeated Hong Sung-Sik (South Korea) PTS (19–7)
** Defeated Justin Rowsell (Australia) PTS (21–15)
** Lost to Marco Rudolph (Germany) PTS (14–19)
* 1992 Grigorian represented the Unified Team (Former Soviet Union) at the Barcelona Olympic Games as a lightweight. His results were:
** Defeated Óscar Palomino (Spain) 11–10
** Lost to Hong Sung-Sik (South Korea) 3–9
Artur had a final amateur record of 361–23.

## Professional career

Trained by Fritz Sdunek, Grigorian began his professional career in 1994 and won eight consecutive bouts. On 23 July 1994, Grigorian defeated Turkish boxer Senturk Ozdemir by a fifth-round technical knockout and won the vacant German International lightweight title.
On 1 April 1995, Grigorian defeated Antonio Strabello and became the WBO Inter-Continental champion. After six non-title bouts and one title defense, Artur, with a perfect 19–0 record, became eligible to fight for the WBO lightweight championship world title. The title had recently been vacated by Oscar De La Hoya after he moved up to the light welterweight division.
Grigorian faced Puerto Rican Antonio Rivera on 13 April 1996, for the vacant WBO lightweight title. Both were the two top contenders in the lightweight division. Artur won by knocking Rivera out in the twelfth round and became the new WBO lightweight champion.
After four title defenses, Grigorian defended his belt against undefeated challenger Marco Rudolph. Rudolph had bested Grigorian seven years earlier at the 1991 World Amateur Boxing Championship finals. Grigorian avenged his amateur defeat by stopping Rudolph in the sixth round.
Grigorian would continue to defend his title a total of seventeen times, a new record in the lightweight division. Artur was just one more defense away from becoming the longest reigning lightweight champion, but ultimately lost his belt to Acelino Freitas by unanimous decision on 3 January 2004. Grigorian had surgery on his right shoulder prior to the bout. Freitas lost the belt in his first title defense against Diego Corrales. Grigorian retired later that year after winning one more bout.
On 24 February 2009, at the age of 41, Artur came out of retirement for one more bout in which he won a six-round unanimous decision against Bulgarian Kirkor Kirkorov. Kirkorov is also of Armenian descent and also a 1991 World Amateur Boxing Championships medalist.

## Personal life

Grigorian lives in Germany with his wife and three daughters. He currently works as a boxing trainer.

## Professional boxing record

| 39 fights | 38 wins | 1 loss |
| By knockout | 22 | 0 |
| By decision | 16 | 1 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
| 39 | Win | 38–1 | Kirkor Kirkorov | PTS | 6 | 24 Feb 2009 | Universum Gym, Wandsbek, Hamburg, Germany | |
| 38 | Win | 37–1 | Vasile Herteg | TKO | 4 (8), 2:35 | 11 Sep 2004 | Kisstadion, Budapest, Hungary | |
| 37 | Loss | 36–1 | Acelino Freitas | UD | 12 | 3 Jan 2004 | Foxwoods Resort, Mashantucket, Connecticut, United States | Lost WBO lightweight title |
| 36 | Win | 36–0 | Matt Zegan | MD | 12 | 18 Jan 2003 | Grugahalle, Essen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany | Retained WBO lightweight title |
| 35 | Win | 35–0 | Stefano Zoff | UD | 12 | 14 Sep 2002 | Volkswagenhalle, Braunschweig, Niedersachsen, Germany | Retained WBO lightweight title |
| 34 | Win | 34–0 | Rocky Martinez | TKO | 8 (12), 2:15 | 5 Jan 2002 | Bordelandhalle, Magdeburg, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany | Retained WBO lightweight title |
| 33 | Win | 33–0 | Aldo Nazareno Rios | UD | 12 | 16 Jun 2001 | Kisstadion, Budapest, Hungary | Retained WBO lightweight title |
| 32 | Win | 32–0 | Angel Jose Perez | TKO | 6 (12), 1:40 | 24 Feb 2001 | Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, Hamburg, Germany | Retained WBO lightweight title |
| 31 | Win | 31–0 | Antonio Pitalua | UD | 12 | 25 Nov 2000 | Preussag Arena, Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany | Retained WBO lightweight title |
| 30 | Win | 30–0 | Zoltan Kalocsai | TKO | 12 (12), 1:00 | 23 Jun 2000 | FTC Stadium, Budapest, Hungary | Retained WBO lightweight title |
| 29 | Win | 29–0 | Sandro Casamonica | TKO | 9 (12), 1:48 | 19 Feb 2000 | Estrel Convention Center, Neukoelln, Berlin, Germany | Retained WBO lightweight title |
| 28 | Win | 28–0 | Wilson Enrique Galli | TKO | 10 (12), 2:46 | 27 Nov 1999 | Hansehalle, Lübeck, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany | Retained WBO lightweight title |
| 27 | Win | 27–0 | Michael Clark | KO | 5 (12), 1:45 | 9 Oct 1999 | Koenig Pilsener Arena, Oberhausen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany | Retained WBO lightweight title |
| 26 | Win | 26–0 | Oscar Garcia Cano | UD | 12 | 13 Mar 1999 | Hansehalle, Lübeck, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany | Retained WBO lightweight title |
| 25 | Win | 25–0 | Giorgio Campanella | TD | 10 (12), 1:36 | 24 Oct 1998 | Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, Hamburg, Germany | Retained WBO lightweight title |
| 24 | Win | 24–0 | Marco Rudolph | TKO | 6 (12), 1:50 | 14 Mar 1998 | Sporthalle, Wandsbek, Hamburg, Germany | Retained WBO lightweight title |
| 23 | Win | 23–0 | David Armstrong | UD | 12 | 11 Oct 1997 | Stadthalle, Cottbus, Brandenburg, Germany | Retained WBO lightweight title |
| 22 | Win | 22–0 | Raul Horacio Balbi | TKO | 11 (12), 1:10 | 22 Feb 1997 | Sporthalle, Wandsbek, Hamburg, Germany | Retained WBO lightweight title |
| 21 | Win | 21–0 | Marty Jakubowski | UD | 12 | 16 Nov 1996 | Sporthalle, Wandsbek, Hamburg, Germany | Retained WBO lightweight title |
| 20 | Win | 20–0 | Gene Reed | KO | 2 (12), 1:25 | 21 Sep 1996 | Sport und Erholungszentrum, Friedrichshain, Berlin, Germany | Retained WBO lightweight title |
| 19 | Win | 19–0 | Antonio Rivera | KO | 12 (12), 2:23 | 13 Apr 1996 | Sporthalle, Wandsbek, Hamburg, Germany | Won vacant WBO lightweight title |
| 18 | Win | 18–0 | Esteban Perez Quinones | TKO | 6 | 2 Oct 1996 | Stadthalle, Cottbus, Brandenburg, Germany | |
| 17 | Win | 17–0 | Paul Kaoma | PTS | 8 | 2 Dec 1995 | Carl Benz Halle, Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Germany | |
| 16 | Win | 16–0 | Jean-Marc Camaleri | TKO | 2 (8) | 7 Oct 1995 | Festhalle, Frankfurt, Hessen, Germany | |
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Pascal Ragaut | TKO | 4 (8) | 23 Sep 1995 | Saaltheater Geulen, Aachen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany | |
| 14 | Win | 14–0 | Angel Aldama | TKO | 5 (12) | 19 Aug 1995 | Eisstadion, Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany | Retained WBO Inter-Continental lightweight title |
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Carlos Pena | PTS | 8 | 10 Jun 1995 | Europahalle, Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Germany | |
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Mark Smith | PTS | 4 | 20 May 1995 | Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, Hamburg, Germany | |
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Antonio Strabello | TKO | 8 (12), 1:52 | 1 Apr 1995 | Saaltheater Geulen, Aachen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany | Won vacant WBO Inter-Continental lightweight title |
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Armando Juan Reyes | TKO | 4 (8) | 11 Mar 1995 | Deutz Sporthalle, Cologne, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany | |
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Bobby Brewer | TD | 4 (4) | 28 Jan 1995 | Sporthalle, Schoeneberg, Berlin, Germany | |
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Benito Martinez | TKO | 5 | 17 Dec 1994 | Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, Hamburg, Germany | |
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Jose Carlos Cantero | TKO | 5 | 3 Dec 1994 | Atelier Bruno Bruni, Hamburg, Germany | |
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Alberto Alicea | TKO | 5 | 22 Oct 1994 | Hansehalle, Lübeck, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany | |
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Oscar Palomino | PTS | 8 | 10 Sep 1994 | Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, Hamburg, Germany | |
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Senturk Ozdemir | TKO | 5 (10) | 23 Jul 1994 | Sportforum, Lichtenberg, Berlin, Germany | Won vacant German International lightweight title |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Pascal Montulet | PTS | 8 | 28 May 1994 | Tivoli Eissporthalle, Aachen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany | |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Marcelo Rodriguez | PTS | 8 | 23 Apr 1994 | Sporthalle Bildungszentrum, Halle, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany | |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Juan Tubbs | TKO | 2 | 10 Apr 1994 | Universum Gym, Wandsbek, Hamburg, Germany | |